The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Taxodium distichum and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Skyward’. ‘Skyward’ represents a new western bald cypress tree grown for landscape use.
The inventor discovered this new Taxodium as a whole plant mutation in winter of 1990 in the Inventor's tree farm that had been planted with seedlings of Taxodium distichum in Mustang, Okla. The original tree of ‘Skyward’ was observed on the tree farm for five years and then subsequently planted in the Inventor's personal garden in 1995 for further evaluation.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by hardwood cuttings under the direction of the Inventor in Boring, Oreg. in December of 2008. Propagation by hardwood cutting, budding and grafting has shown that the characteristics of this cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.